Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Best Network Topology with Current Hardware

    General pfSense Questions
    4
    36
    1.9k
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • S
      stevencavanagh @Dobby_
      last edited by

      @Dobby_ said in Best Network Topology with Current Hardware:

      The NAS speed can be also based on the HDD/SSD´s speed!

      Perhaps there is also not the max. load on the line, so you could try out iPerf
      with multiple streams to gain the load for getting better "numbers".

      How do I run Iperf with multiple streams?

      Totally get that the NAS speed could be affected by HDD speed but they are ironwolfs in a Synology DS920+ and reading around people seem to be getting much better results than me!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • ?
        A Former User @stevencavanagh
        last edited by

        @stevencavanagh said in Best Network Topology with Current Hardware:

        For example Iperf to NAS on 1G network.....

        And it is ~50 Mbits/sec? You must have a link speed issue. More like 100M, not 1G.

        S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • S
          stevencavanagh @A Former User
          last edited by

          @kjk54 said in Best Network Topology with Current Hardware:

          @stevencavanagh said in Best Network Topology with Current Hardware:

          For example Iperf to NAS on 1G network.....

          And it is ~50 Mbits/sec? You must have a link speed issue. More like 100M, not 1G.

          Totally agree but I cannot find the reason at all.

          Nothing is running at 100MB. NAS, both switches (P1280) & both PCs are showing as running as 1G. Can only assume it is either the LAG from switch 1 to switch 2 or LAG from switch 1 to Pfsense but they are indicating all is good at 1G

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Some asymmetric routing? Are you seeing a lot of retries/retransmissions?

            S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S
              stevencavanagh @stephenw10
              last edited by

              @stephenw10 said in Best Network Topology with Current Hardware:

              Some asymmetric routing? Are you seeing a lot of retries/retransmissions?

              Where is the best place to check for this? Would it be in the System Logs somewhere?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                iperf normally reports retries at one end. Otherwise a pcap would show retransmissions.

                S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  stevencavanagh @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10
                  Iperf not showing any retries.

                  However, when trying Iperf from Pfsense to NAS IP address it still shows 50 Mbits/sec, does that point to the cabling between Pfsense and the NAS?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    I mean 50Mbps is an odd value. It would be exactly 100 or very close if something were linked at that. If something were linked at half duplex you'd likely see <20Mbps at best.

                    Do you have any traffic shaping in play you may have forgotten about?

                    S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • S
                      stevencavanagh @stephenw10
                      last edited by stevencavanagh

                      @stephenw10
                      Don't think there is any traffic shaping in play, certainly no limiters on Pfsense nor is there any in play on either of the 2 switches.

                      S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • S
                        stevencavanagh @stevencavanagh
                        last edited by stevencavanagh

                        @stevencavanagh
                        Traffic shaping was enabled but could not see where it would be influencing the speed to the server.

                        In utter frustration I completely removed the shaper and now get the following results, which I think is as good as it gets with a 1G connection across VLANs via Pfsense.

                        90616932-dd34-4be8-a0df-cc8094fdb93d-image.png

                        There is a LAG connecting the NAS to Pfsense (2 * 1G connections) and another from Switch to Pfsense (2 * 1G connections) but this obviously would not increase the speed.

                        Only issue I may have would be the Microsoft Teams / Jabber voice calls tomorrow when I'm back online for work, as that is why I added the shaper in the first place as I kept getting drop outs.

                        Any idea as to what bit of the shaper I should modify for this? Clearly my attempt at it worked (sort of) but cocked up the NAS!

                        Either way, Many thanks for pointing me in this direction!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          Ah, yup I've forgotten about old test config changes many, many times! 😉

                          If those are LACP laggs you may get load balancing between them but you would need multiple parallel connections to see it.

                          S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S
                            stevencavanagh @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10
                            Yes they are LACP and I have tested with multiple parallel connections in the past and all seemed good, so hopefully all is good, well at least until tomorrow when I try a Teams call.

                            Unless I am missing something there doesn't appear to be a checkbox for Teams in the shaper anywhere for some reason.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              No probably not. That list is not that recent. You would need to form your own rules to match that.

                              S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • S
                                stevencavanagh @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10
                                Ok, cheers!

                                I'll have a play, but I'll make sure I check the NAS link afterwards!!

                                S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • S
                                  stevencavanagh @stevencavanagh
                                  last edited by stevencavanagh

                                  @stevencavanagh

                                  Spent all day on Teams for work and no drop outs at all. Strange that I had drop outs previously with Teams and had to use traffic shaper to cure it, which obviously caused other issues.

                                  Never mind, all working fine without now.

                                  Just the L3 switch to sort out now!

                                  ? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • ?
                                    A Former User @stevencavanagh
                                    last edited by

                                    @stevencavanagh
                                    Things are often not what they seem.:)

                                    S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      stevencavanagh @A Former User
                                      last edited by

                                      @kjk54 said in Best Network Topology with Current Hardware:

                                      @stevencavanagh
                                      Things are often not what they seem.:)

                                      Very true!

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • First post
                                        Last post
                                      Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.